Dance Team Retreat

Every year the CLU dance team goes on a weekend retreat to work on the competition pieces. This year the retreat was in Valencia at one of the girls houses. We had a 7 hour practice on saturday, and a 5 hour practice on sunday. It was so exhausting. But we also had team bonding time, which was a lot of fun. We did a white elephant gift exchange one night, and went to California Pizza Kitchen the next. We also played a few other games and activities to get to know each other better. I think the retreat really helped me feel like part of the team. Since I joined late, I was struggling to learn the dances that they already knew quickly, and I really didn't know very many of the girls that well. But the retreat really helped me get to know them, and feel like I was really part of the team, and not just a replacement. I loved the retreat, even though the practices were excruciating. I'm really glad I'm a part of the CLU dance team.

Finals Week

Finals week and the week before finals week was very very stressful. I have a 15 page paper to write, a website to make, and four other papers for english. I got it all finished, but it took a lot of late nights of staying up till 3am doing work. I realized after this that I really need to stop procrastinating. I didn't really procrastinate on the 15 page paper, but I definitely did on the other four papers. They had been assigned a while ago, and the due dates had technically already passed, but our teacher allowed us to turn in papers way past the due dates, and everyone in the class had gotten into the habit of turning them in late. So they just kept piling up for the end of the semester. We learned our lesson though, I am definitely not going to leave 4 papers for the end of the semester ever again. I am so glad to be done with all the work and finally being able to relax and have a break.

Christmas Chaos

Christmas Chaos was a lot of fun. When they told us there was going to be ice blocking and snow, I definitely was not expecting it to be enough snow for a snowball fight, or enough for very many activities, but there was so much snow, and everyone had a big snowball fight. It was really nice because it doesn't snow here, so it was fun to have "weather" that was out of the ordinary. We all got pummeled with snowballs, but it was still a lot of fun. My friends and I went ice blocking also. That was a little bit more of a challenge though. None of my friends had ever been ice blocking before, and we were having a little bit of trouble getting the ice block to go smoothly down the hill. We also made christmas ornaments, and there were carriage rides, but the line for the carriage rides was very long, so we didn't go. Christmas Chaos all together was a lot of fun.

Homecoming

Homecoming was so much fun! I definitely was not expecting as fun of a night as it ended up being. The homecoming dance was at Jillian's in City Walk, and although I have been to City Walk many times, I had never been to Jillian's. It was very fun, there was a dance floor, music, games, fake poker, and pool tables. My friends and I danced for a while, and then played some games when we got tired. There was also food and soft drinks available at the bar, which I definitely was not expecting. I had never played black jack before, but they provided us with 500 fake dollars, and I learned how to play, although I wasn't very good. The dance ended early, because someone got in trouble for underage drinking, but it was still a lot of fun, and a nice break from school work.

Dance Team Tryouts

I had been planning on trying out for the CLU dance team at the beginning of the year, but I unfortunately did not realize that the try outs were back in April, and I had already missed them. I was so bummed. But after a few weeks of school, I found out they were having late tryouts, and looking for one member to add to the team. I was ecstatic! When I got to the dance room, I was expecting a lot of people to try out, but there were only a few people there, and the current dance team only had 8 members, it was not nearly as nerve wracking as I had expected. But I was still nervous. First we warmed up and did some "across the floors" and then we learned a short routine, and performed it one by one for the judges. It was a really fun routine, and I tried my best to be enthusiastic and sharp in my movements. The judges then left the room to decide who they would add to the team. I ended up making it! I was so excited. I'm very happy to be on the dance team now, and we are performing at Nationals in Florida at Disney world in January. I'm very excited.

Venice Beach Outing

I really enjoyed the Venice beach trip we took with our peer group. I had never been to Venice before but I had always heard stories from friends so it was cool to finally experience it myself.
It was very interesting and different there. It was defiantly an eye opening experience. I enjoyed observing the different people and how they acted and the things they said. They were far different from what I’m used to. I loved all of the artwork the people were seeing at the different booths there.
However, I didn’t like how a lot of the people were high, drunk, or smoking. I saw a man tweaking out on drugs when we were driving down one of the streets which kind of bothered me. Although, it made me think and reflect about the world and the things people do these days.
My favorite part of the trip was the canals. It was so pretty and I felt like I was in Venice, Italy. The houses surrounding the water were so pretty and each one was unique.

Homecoming Weekend

I really enjoyed homecoming weekend. I had a lot of fun at the homecoming carnival even though only one ride was working. My friends and I went on our own adventure around the school. I even met someone who ended up becoming a good friend.
I was going to attend the homecoming football game but I was too tired from the night before. The next day I went to the homecoming dance with some friends and I had a lot of fun. Although, on the way there we were almost hit by a car who wasn’t paying attention on the road. I had fun dancing with people and playing games with the free game card. Sadly, the night went by really fast. But overall it was a fun weekend.

Christmas Chaos

Christmas Chaos was so much fun. I thought it was really cool that our school brought snow for us. I attended with a bunch of friends and we all had a blast! I think it put us all in the Christmas spirit. It was nice to see snow because I defiantly miss it. It kind of made me feel like I was back in Canada. My favorite part was having a snowball fight with friends and fellow Cal Lutheran students. It was very exciting for some of my friends who have never seen snow so I had fun seeing how excited they were. This has probably been my favorite event so far. I appreciate Club Lu for organizing and putting on this event for us. I can’t wait for next year’s Christmas Chaos!

Sankta Lucia

I attended the Scandinavian celebration, Sankta Lucia for my Christianity class. It was interesting to see a different cultures religious celebration. I liked learning about Sankta Lucia and how the holiday started. The speech was kind of long but I was surprisingly interested in it. Also, seeing the candles and the representatives of Sankta Lucia put me in more of the holiday spirit. I think it’s cool that our school holds different holiday celebrations.

Fall Excursion Trip to Catalina

A few weeks ago I went on the CSC Fall Excursion community service trip to Catalina Island. I had so much fun and it felt good to do community service. The purpose of the trip was to remove non-native plants from the island and maintain it's natural habitat. It was a very rewarding experience.
We went on a boat ride to get to the island and that was very cool because I haven’t been on a big boat like that since I was little, and I barely even remember that one.
On the second day we met some volunteers from ACE who were working on an 18-month project on Catalina Island. We spent a few hours helping them remove the fennel. They told us that the entire process to remove these plants would take 10 years. They really appreciated our help. It was hard work. We used machetes and huge axes to remove the plants. I got a few cactus needles in my leg in the process of removing the fennel. On the way back to camp after our community service we got to see a little eagle and hawk exhibit. The scenery was beautiful and there was even some buffalo!
I enjoyed this experience even more because I plan on working in the field of science and this was a great way to start my journey to become an environmental scientist. I also met some really nice fun people who also signed up for the event.

Community Service Project

I loved going on the community service project to clean up the evacuated homes of homeless people in Ventura County. This experience was incredibly eye opening for me. I was shocked by the way that these people lived. They had almost nothing but made due with what they had. Cleaning up was not pleasant and extremely tedious but once we were done I think all of us felt very accomplished and good about what we had just done.  It was interesting to see how the people who had once occupied this area had set up the layout of what a house would be. They had “a living room” and “a bedroom”. I found this really sad that people are so unfortunate that this is how they have to live. I wanted to help these people but knew that the best I could do was clean up what they had left to make the area nicer. Doing this service project got me motivated to do more services like this. I realized that my help is needed and I am very capable of giving it. After going on this project we got to talk about how we felt about what we had done, and hearing everyone’s feelings was very inspiring and interesting. Also talking to other people back at school about this trip was cool because so many people enjoyed giving their help and time as much as I did. I really hope that this project is continued in the future and that those students can get as much out of it as I did. 

Midnight Madness

            Midnight Madness was a very fun experience. I didn’t get to sit in the crowd because I stood on the floor and cheered, but either way I know that the experience would have been equally as enjoyable. It was so fun seeing everyone’s school spirit and excitement to be a student at Cal Lu. The athletes who were being introduced were so excited to see their crowd’s support which made the whole mood very positive and exciting. The audience was very eager to get involved in the activities at midnight madness and excited to support their athletes. I really loved seeing each athlete run out individually while the crowd cheered for them. Also seeing the dance team perform was great because they were so talented and the crowd loved them and cheered them on through their whole performance. Performing on the cheer squad was great also because of the crowd’s excitement and support. It was a really great feeling have the entire audience cheering us on and getting us pumped up through our routine. Midnight madness was a great experience that I hope will continue throughout the years because of its ability to promote the basketball team and increase the school spirit. 

Christmas Chaos

Christmas Chaos was a very exciting and enjoyable experience for me. Being from Washington, I’m very used to seeing the snow and having wintry days around the Christmas season. Also living at home there are many Christmas activities that I would attend around my neighborhood with family and friends. College is a much different experience first because California is sunny, so the feeling of Christmas isn’t as apparent. Also the holiday activities around home that I would usually attend annually with family and friends aren’t typical for college students. Because these things weren’t available here in college, Christmas Chaos was a wonderful experience that made the place homier than it already is. I loved playing in the snow and making ornaments to take home to my family. This was a great bonding experience for my friends and me here at Cal Lu. We took pictures with Santa and The Grinch and had a great time talking and hanging out with everyone. I really loved having this activity and our school and I hope that others can enjoy it also in the future. 

Tim O'Brien's Speech

The speech that Tim O’Brien gave about his book The Things They Carried was very interesting to me. The book I found a little tedious and hard to get through, however, hearing Tim O’Brien talk about his reasons for why he wrote what he did. Many aspects of the book were very confusing to me and I didn’t fully understand his purpose behind them, but after hearing him explain what the story meant to him and his reasons for writing it in that way, I had a greater appreciation for the overall story. It was really enjoyable to see the joy that O’Brien had in writing this story and talking about what it meant to him. When O’Brien gave audience members the chance at the end of his speech to come ask him questions, I was amazed by the interesting questions that people had for him. I think O’Brien was too; he had long intricate answers and expressed his appreciation for their questions. This experience was shocking to me because it was so much better than I expected it to be. Although I didn’t enjoy reading the book The Things They Carried at the time it was an overall enjoyable and pleasant experience now that I look back on it.

Venice Beach trip

I really enjoyed the Venice beach trip we took with our peer group although I was a little hesitant whether or not I wanted to go at first. I wasn’t looking forward to giving up my whole Sunday before finals to spend the day at the beach. Once we got to the beach my attitude was very changed. There was so much to see and take in at Venice Beach. There were so many different types of people and booths set up by people there with items they had made and were selling. I really loved all the artwork that the people along the beach were selling because it was all so different and creative. We saw lots of jewelry that the people had also made and when we started talking with these people we found out so much. A lot of them were from different countries and their work had influences from their culture. It was so interesting to see so many different cultural influences all in one place. Also I really enjoyed the canals. They resembled the canals in Venice, Italy. It was really cool seeing something so closely resembling Italy. The houses along the canal were all beautiful and quant and seeing everyone walking along the canal enjoying the day was very refreshing. I really enjoyed this experience and would love to go back. 

CLU variety show

I attended the CLU variety show a while back this year and really enjoyed the experience!

I was going to see my friend Katie perform with the CLU dance team and support and cheer her on. I expected it to be a few dances and some comical acts, nothing special really. But much to my surprise the CLU student community is filled with such talent! The girl who opened the show had a stunning voice and really brought a fun and friendly atmosphere to the show. The hosts of the show, I will admit, were rather annoying. They honestly thought that they were hilarious but I found their humor to be a little bit bothersome. On a different note, the rest of the performers were outstanding and the range of performances and talent took me by surprise! Acoustic guitar performances, belly dancing, jazz dance, musical theatre, magic tricks, flamenco dance and so much more! I had no idea how many talented individuals we had at CLU and this event really gave them the chance to showcase their abilities. I'd love to see other events like this where students can perform and share their talents with their peers!

Sankta Lucia

On a whim, my friend and I decided to go to the Sankta Lucia celebration at the chapel.

I am actually really glad we decided to go! It put me in the holiday spirit and shifted the focus of Christmas away from all the materialistic embellishments and commercial atmosphere that typically consume this holiday. It helped me remember the more traditional elements of the holiday and gave me insight into this Scandinavian tradition and history.

The speeches were not too long but yet meaningful and emphasized the importance of giving during the holiday season; being a servant to God and to society and doing things to help others and give back during this time of year. Especially in today's society where Christmas has become centered around gifts and buying and money and sales and decorations etcetera, I realized how important it is to just step away from all these fabrications and remember what truly matters. We must remember to give to those who cannot have all the gifts and pleasures we put so much pride in, and shift our focus to the beautiful simplicities during this time of year like family, friends, and being thankful for all that we have.

Anyways...back to the event! I loved hearing the about the history of the event and how Sankta Lucia was originally Sicilian. I found that especially interesting because I'm Sicilian and loved being able to relate my own culture to this event! The procession of the class representatives of Sankta Lucias and their hosts was really charming! I loved their attire and the candle lighting ceremony. Having traditional events such as this at CLU is really a cool experience to add to my freshman year and I don't think I would have gotten the opportunity to enjoy this Christmas tradition had I decided to go to school elsewhere! :)

Venice Beach Outing

Going to Venice Beach was a real eye opening experience.

As a Southern California native, never having been to Venice is quite embarrassing, so I'm glad I finally got the opportunity to go!

Venice is a really interesting place to say the least.

It is filled with such a hodgepodge of people and shops and art and cultures!

You have the extremely health-conscious people running about the sidewalks along the beach or biking around.

Then you have those who don't seem to place so much importance on their health and spend their days smoking and on drugs.

Then there are the artists and salesmen trying to make a buck and sell you stuff!

There were a lot of homeless people, which I expected there to be.

Their lifestyle was quite different from the homeless lifestyle we witnessed at the start of the semester at the Ventura river.

These homeless people carry everything with them and are often times passed out on the beaches and streets. Whereas the homeless in Ventura were semipermanent and had "homes" of sorts to return to.

Venice Beach is not the cleanest nor safest place I have ever been. But I still find it important that I experienced it and opened my eyes to reality.

I enjoyed seeing such different people and broadening my perspective on the culture. I felt as if I was in another world. The people and pace of life were focused more on the here and now, trying to make a living selling you random stuff, just enjoying life, and even just trying to survive another day.

I was somewhat disappointed that we couldn't get our entire group to go to this event and experience this place together, but overall I am still glad I got to experience it.

I'm not sure how often I'm gonna return to Venice, and I'm never going there alone, but I have to say it was one of the most interesting and cool places I've been to!

Christmas Chaos

Christmas Chaos was such a fun experience!

I really loved the event and it put everyone in the holiday spirit!

Bringing in real snow for a snowball fight was such a treat!

I had never played in real snow before so I was really excited to make my first snowball!

But wow can I say that getting hit with a snowball HURTS!

Ice blocking was fun as well and the carriage rides were so cute!

A lot of thought was put into this event and the extensive planning was clearly evident!

I appreciate all the hard work that was involved in this event and hope it is a Club Lu that continues each year!

This Club Lu event was unlike other events in the fact that it was seasonally oriented and centered around the holidays!

I absolutely LOVE Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed this event!

This event put everyone in such a warm and cheery mood as we all did fun holiday activities together and let ourselves break away from our busy schedules and the looming presence of finals week!

I simply cannot wait for it to be Christmas now!

Harold Stone Lectures

Dr. Pence is a biochemist, with emphasis on cloning and reproductive ethic. Pence started off his presentation by speaking about the four theories about why people believe what they do about food. Leading in to the question; organic or genetically modified food, which is better? According to Pence, food is a complex issue yet little has been written on it. People need to be more cautious about food and the central issues: trust and safety.

Pence’s four theories are the following. Theory #1 is that food should be simple, traditional, and locally grown. Natural and safe. Theory #2 is that food should be equality, shared equally everywhere. Food egalitartis as Pence referred to it as. The third theory was food globalism. Going into detail about the benefits from the global trade of food. Theory #4 was on food progressives, which Pence supported. Science give us tools to grown better food, with a larger crop. As pence said if there is a tool on the table such as food enhancement, why take it off the table?

There has been no conclusive evidence that organic food is richer in nutritious than processed food. It is however more expensive, which becomes an ethic issue, should people make that much profit off food?

In the end Pence stated that food can be looked at like a scale the top being the safest food with no allergies, platonic perfection. this is what we want to stick to. In the middle there is the food that can make you sick, food poisoning. At the bottom is the food you want to steer clear of, foods that are contaminated by e.coli which can be deadly.

I personally was not very impressed with the lecture. He read mainly off the slides, without much further explanation. His personal opinion was also very had to read, I knew only because his title is a biochemist with and emphasis in cloning and reproductive ethic. Without this it would not have been completely clear. One could tell from the lecture he knew what he was presenting about and had passion, but as a public speaker I was not drawn in by his emphasis or presentation skills.

I was not moved by his presentation, his facts did not persuade me to move toward genetically modified foods, or processed foods. After his presentation I feel stronger than ever about sticking to organic foods.

Catalina Island Community Service Project

I went on the CSC volunteer excursion to Catalina Island. The experience was really memorable and I'm glad I was a part of it!

The purpose of the service project was to remove non-native plants from the island and maintain it's natural habitat. We joined a group of volunteers from ACE who were working on an 18-month project on Catalina Island. Their main focus was to remove fennel from the hillsides of the island and then use herbacide to kill their roots. The entire process will take 10 years to complete, but our contribution undoubtedly made a difference.

The work was harder than I expected! We use polanskies? which were ax like tools, as well as machetes! to break down the fennel plants across the hillside. Although the work could have easily and quickly been accomplished through using electric saws or machinery, doing the work manually made the experience much more meaningful. It showed me how we must try hard to take care of our environment and not introduce plants that are not native to certain environments. If we are smart about things and don't make careless errors like such to begin with, we don't have to worry about removing them later as they take over the natural habitats by killing off the native plants needed for the particular environment.

I really loved taking part in the CSC excursion, especially for the fact that it was centered around helping the environment. It was a great opportunity to do something working towards a greater good as well as meet some new people. I am definitely taking part in some more programs with CSC and would really recommend that everyone try some sort of volunteer program through our school this year! They're a lot of fun and the program coordinator Stine is really funny and nice! Sign up with your friends and do something together! You'll meet some really cool people that you may not have otherwise had the opportunity to meet had you not volunteered and done something outside your normal routine of activities!

Tim O'Brians' Speech

On Thursday freshmen were highly advised, at least in my peer group, to attend Tim O’Brians speech. I was not motivated to attend, except for that fact that I could write this analysis and receive extra credit on Monday’s quiz.  However, in the end I still felt disappointed with O’Brian’s performance.

            The speech started off very slow, and his points at the beginning seemed extremely irrelevant, though he tied all his points together I felt it was done poorly. I personally could not hear very well and with the fidgeting of those around me and side conversations, it was very difficult to concentrate on O’Brian’s speech. Though I was not one who left early, I wish I could have.

            I enjoyed the book, however the writing style was extremely repetitive and hard to fallow towards the end of the novel.  I felt his speech was also scattered like his writing style, this I feel is extremely hard to fallow; I had a conversation with a fellow freshmen about this we both agreed this is why we only chose to read sections of the book. Otherwise it felt like we were reading the same chapter multiple times.

            I knew when reading The Things They Carried that it was fictional novel, but while in my reading I did not feel like the stories were fictional. When O’Brian said some of the stories were not completely accurate, some were not even true, I was extremely disappointed because I do not feel that war is something that a soldier would twist in a novel. However, when he spoke about how one person views an event and another might will be different and will change over time I better understood how he wrote the book and why certain aspects needed to be portrayed in a specific way. Overall I am glad I attended because I better understood the book.

kingsmen football

Saturday I attended my first Kingsmen football game. Coming from a very small boarding school, our football team was not only 8 man but we only won our first game this past season. Needless to say we sucked. When came over to the stadium i could hear cheering, this got me pumped, I have been waiting so long to want to support my schools athletics. 

I was not expecting much with D3 football, with being a die hard USC fan. However, I had so much fun during the game. I liked actually knowing people on the team and sidelines. Waving to other people in the stands that I knew. It had  a comforting and personal effect on the game.

For this game I didn't dress up in school colors, or make a sign. Though, I think for the next game that could be a lot of fun! I can't wait to go support other CLU sports teams.

mmmmm.....yoga.

Okay, so I went to the gym today. I know this blog is supposed to be about important experiences during the semester, but for me this was epic. I have never gone to the gym before, so through the suggestion of my friend, we set off on a gym adventure.

The gym at CLU is beautiful. Clean. Orderly. Perfect. Just being in there made me feel motivated and healthy. But everything in the gym seemed foreign to me. I didn’t have the slightest clue as to how anything worked or let alone what to do once you got the machine to turn on. Having the support of my friend made it all the more worthwhile. So after some fumbling and looking completely lost, I got moving and began to feel accomplished. I gained more confidence and began to try other machines. I felt interested and excited, but most of all I was having fun.

To complete our adventure we went to yoga class, which is held in the dance room upstairs of the GSFC. The dim lights and zen atmosphere was very inviting, especially since it was my first yoga class and I had no idea what to expect. Soon enough, class started and we rolled out our mats (I felt so cool, I had my own cute mat and everything!). The instructor Mina was so cool. She was very relaxed and encouraging. She reminded us to leave our minds behind and let our bodies tell us what to do. That was something I rarely let myself do lately. I am always lost in thought and wrapped up in some issue I am trying to sort out in my head. And coming from one of my most hectic and emotional weekends so far this year, it felt good just to let it all float away.

Yoga is now my new favorite thing. I am able to leave my thoughts about papers, tests, deadlines, work, and money at the door at find a bit of balance within my body and in my life. Yoga really puts things into perspective and gives you the chance to stop…relax…and refocus in life. I feel every student should take yoga. We need it.

welcome

Welcome to our blog!! I eager to read about your experiences.